**MSPB Slams Door on VA Employee’s Failed Appeal** Frank Sica, a federal worker passed over for a job at the Department of Veterans Affairs, saw his appeal crushed by the Merit Systems Protection Board on January 8, 2026. The board denied his petition for review, affirming an initial ruling that booted his case for lacking…
Navy Lab Worker Fired, Appeal Crushed Over Label Mishaps Dionisio Lopez, a Navy Drug Screening Lab technician, got booted for sample handling and labeling screw-ups, and the Merit Systems Protection Board just slammed the door on his appeal. The board upheld his removal, rejecting claims of factual errors, unfair penalties, and inconsistent discipline compared to…
Alleged Crypto Scam Kingpin Arrested in Cambodia After $12 Billion Bitcoin Seizure Chen Zhi, the alleged mastermind behind a large-scale crypto scam ring, was arrested in Cambodia this week and extradited to China, according to the provided details of the case. Authorities allege that Chen’s company used deceptive tactics to target victims globally, ultimately collecting…
**Georgia Appeals Court Greenlights Real Estate Clash Appeal** A Georgia Court of Appeals just cracked open the door on a heated real estate eviction battle, granting SMRE Roswell SPE LLC’s bid for an early appeal in its lawsuit against Mario Vazquez Melgar and others. This procedural win halts lower court momentum, signaling bigger fights ahead…
Zcash Slides After Electric Coin Company Team Says It Was “Constructively Discharged” Zcash (ZEC) fell by as much as 20% over the past 24 hours after the Electric Coin Company (ECC) said its entire team was leaving amid a governance dispute tied to a nonprofit that supports the project. The ECC CEO said the team…
**Georgia Appeals Court Slams Door on Sharecare Crypto Escape** Georgia’s Court of Appeals just crushed Fruit Street Health’s bid for an early appeal in its heavyweight lawsuit against Sharecare, Inc., denying the interlocutory application on January 9, 2026. This keeps the battle raging in Fulton County Superior Court (Case 2023CV389931), signaling no fast-track relief for…
**Georgia Appeals Court Slams Door on Decade-Old Assault Conviction Bid** In a swift dismissal, Georgia’s Court of Appeals on January 9, 2026, rejected Arthur Bussey’s bid to vacate his 2015 aggravated assault convictions and 30-year sentence, upholding strict limits on post-conviction challenges. The ruling reinforces that appellate courts can’t hear direct attacks on old guilty…
Nexo Launches Zero‑Interest Credit Offering 0% APR and No Fees Nexo, a Swiss-headquartered digital-asset wealth platform, has launched a new borrowing product called Zero‑Interest Credit, offering crypto-backed loans at 0% APR with no fees. The company announced the product on January 8, positioning it as a way for crypto holders to access liquidity without selling…
Nebraska Court Slams Door on Nonvoting Shareholder Payouts Nebraska’s Supreme Court just ruled that nonvoting Class B shareholders in Streck, Inc. get zero appraisal rights after the company’s $1.6 billion asset sale, handing a clean win to the corporation and its buyers. This sharp decision hinges on plain statutory language tying appraisal protections solely to…
Arthur Hayes Outlines Macro Case for Bitcoin Gains Tied to Liquidity and Geopolitics Arthur Hayes has published a sweeping macro thesis arguing that geopolitical positioning and election-year policy incentives could lead to further expansion in US dollar liquidity—conditions he says would be supportive for Bitcoin and select crypto assets. In his framing, energy politics play…
Builders behind popular Zcash wallet Zashi to launch new startup CashZ Josh Swihart, the former chief executive officer of Electric Coin Company (ECC), announced the creation of a new for-profit startup called CashZ. According to Swihart, CashZ has been formed by the same team that built the Zashi wallet and contributed to recent Zcash (ZEC)…
Ethereum Treasury Firm SharpLink Stakes $170 Million of ETH on Linea SharpLink Gaming, a publicly traded Ethereum treasury firm, said it has staked $170 million worth of ETH on Linea, an Ethereum layer-2 scaling network. The Minneapolis-based company announced the deployment on Thursday, describing the move as part of its approach to putting its ETH…
Polygon Labs unveils ‘Open Money Stack’ to power borderless stablecoin payments Polygon Labs, the developer behind the Polygon Proof of Stake blockchain, has unveiled the Open Money Stack, a new modular framework designed to support stablecoin-based payments and streamline cross-border value transfers. The company described the initiative as an attempt to provide a more structured…
Ethereum scaling network Polygon close to buying bitcoin kiosk firm Coinme, sources say Ethereum Layer-2 network Polygon is in talks to acquire U.S. crypto kiosk provider Coinme, according to people familiar with the matter. The potential deal is valued at $100 million to $125 million, the sources said. One of the people said Polygon is…
Ethereum Price Inches Higher, Building Pressure for a Follow-Through Ethereum price failed to clear the $3,220 resistance and dipped, mirroring a similar move seen in Bitcoin. The pullback highlighted continued selling pressure around that level, a price area traders often watch as a potential turning point. After slipping below $3,220, Ethereum began attempting to recover….
Trump Rules Out Pardon for FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried: NYT President Donald Trump has ruled out granting a pardon to former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, according to comments he made to The New York Times. Trump said he has no plans to pardon Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The statement matters…
OpenAI’s ChatGPT Health Push Raises Questions About Data Security OpenAI said Wednesday that it is rolling out a new feature in ChatGPT that allows users to connect medical records and wellness data, a move that could expand the chatbot’s role in health-related use cases. The announcement also triggered immediate concerns from some privacy experts and…
Michael Saylor’s Strategy discloses new Bitcoin purchase to start the year Strategy, the Tysons Corner, Virginia-based firm formerly known as MicroStrategy, reported another Bitcoin acquisition to open the new year. In a Monday filing, the company said it bought 1,286 BTC for approximately $116 million. The disclosure adds to a pattern of frequent, filing-backed Bitcoin…
Bitwise CIO Highlights Three Key Drivers for a Durable Crypto Upswing in 2026 Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan outlined three factors he says are necessary for a lasting crypto surge in 2026, pointing to a market backdrop that remains “constructive” rather than euphoric. In a blog post cited by NewsBTC, Hougan argued that the…
Bank of America upgrades Coinbase to “Buy” as exchange broadens beyond trading Bank of America has upgraded Coinbase (COIN) to a “Buy” rating, citing the company’s expanding ambitions beyond crypto trading and what the bank described as an increasingly diversified business model. As part of the move, Bank of America reiterated its price target of…
